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Ross
Also known as Ross 614 AB, or Ross and Reuyl by starfarers, Ross is controlled by the Earth Republic and is part of the Praezorian Sector of space, on the edge of the Republic Sector. It was a contentious portal system during the Praezorian Wars and is important to Star Navy battle readiness and response time. It is a star in the Pollux Corridor and policed officially by the ERS Gryphon, and integral to the ship's ongoing storyline. Ross is a binary star system in the constellation Monoceros, consisting of two red dwarf stars and a belt of asteroids, named the Oryx Belt. As it is one of the closest Earth Republic systems to Praezorian space, Ross is of great strategic and commercial importance to humans. Ross Star Observation Post A small observation station operated by the Star Navy, which is crewed by roughly a hundred people at any given time. The post has a similar crew and hardware complement to that of a Star Destroyer, including starfighters, engineers, two missile launchers, lasers and pulse cannons. It has no hyperdrive and moves using maneuver jets, if necessary, but sits at a stable Legrange point between Ross's hyperspace portals. It has space for a couple small, or one large, Star Navy vessels to dock, but little to no civilian accommodations, except in an emergency. Attacks by the Liberators in 2155 badly damaged the station, but it has since been repaired. Artemis Base A construction project underway by the Star Navy in the Oryx Belt, Artemis Station is an Omicron Base-like installation on Artemis, the largest asteroid in Ross's orbit. Artemis is almost large enough to be classed as a dwarf planet, rounded by its own gravity and clearing its orbit around Ross of other asteroids. It is composed mainly of rock, minerals and water ice, providing the future base with a supply of water, oxygen, and construction materials, as well as protection from space. Artemis Base is under construction by Gaiacore Engineering Solutions, who also won the construction contract at Omicron Base; two-hundred of its technicians and engineers currently live in the foundations of Artemis Base, deep underground under the newly-constructed heavy dome. Another fifty Star Navy security and officers round out the population. Indrik Trading Post A smaller civilian-operated construction on Indrik, the second-largest asteroid in the Oryx Belt. Indrik Trading Post evolved from a small Science Directorate post, which was studying and developing red dwarf botany. The post therefore has a considerable dome, which allows a great deal of the light spectrum from Ross onto the surface of Indrik, where black-leaved plants grow in a greenhouse-like atmosphere. The scientists, and now traders and other starfarers, live in a network of tunnels underground. Like Artemis, Indrik is composed of minerals, rock and water ice, and is comparatively spherical. This is a hub of starfarer settlement and commercial activity, and the last three years have seen a great deal of expansion in the underground warrens of the Trading Post, which is labyrinthine and has both lax security and an unclear idea of what citizens are up to in the lower reaches of its environs.